VALOR returns with another edition of This Is VALOR, episode 7 features the second half of June’s ‘Most Wanted’ event.

Bullrope Match – Stone Malone w/Sister Veronica defeated Sebastian Day by submission.

Day and Malone took a moment to get a feel for the bull rope before the action begun. Sebastian Day had the early upper hand but a tangle in the rope following a Monkey Flip was all that Stone Malone needed to swipe the thick rope against the previously injured knee to start the slow dismantling of Day.

The uncomfortable beating wore on, Malone using the cowbell to smash against the kneecap of Sebastian Day before locking in a single leg Boston Crab. Day managed to struggle out, getting up to his feet to swing the cowbell to the head of Malone to gain a moment of peace.

A corner rush saw Day collide with the turnbuckle knee first, he recovered to scale the top rope but all that time taken gave Malone time to pull the rope and catch Sebastian Day for a World Strongest Slam.

Both men continued to fight as the rope was used to crack over their respective spines. Sebastian Day limping on one leg as he just tried to keep Stone Malone at bay.

Frank of the Cross and Tim Strange appeared at the entrance which was all the distraction required for Malone to landed a heavy spear before wrapping the bull rope around the neck of Sebastian Day and hanging him off his back for the quick tap out.

A gruesome end to an all out mugging. Sebastian Day showed early fire but once that knee was struck it was inevitable for Stone Malone to pick apart the Dane. God’s Country may’ve provided an assist by being witness to the conclusion but the match highlighted how ruthless Stone Malone can be.

Strange and Cross made their way to continue the attack before Fulton King and Sami Sparx arrived to try and even the odds. Sister Veronica brought out a Singapore Cane to whip the LND lads which allowed God’s Country to take control, chokeslamming Sparx before disciplining Fulton King with the Singapore Cane off the broad back of The Juggernaut. Strange finished the job with a splash onto a chair wrapped around the ankle of King.

Tim Strange declared that God’s Country would save everyone regardless of who comes out of the woodwork. A big nasty trio with Sister Veronica being a fantastic constant, I’m enjoying God’s Country as this no nonsense wrasslin’ troupe.

We got a quick promo from Chris Renfrew introducing Kavero as part of the New Age Kliq.

Triple Threat – Saqib Ali defeated Ronan King, and Tommy Lockhart by pinfall.

Ronan King jaw jacked a little too long which earned him an early smackdown from Saqib Ali and Tommy Lockhart. He took a powder to leave Lockhart and Ali pick up the pace for some technical proficiency. Lockhart tangled both his opponents up, trapped all in a pretzel before being unceremoniously kicked in their respective arses.

Lockhart continued the momentum, flying out of the ring to both, a massive dropkick from the top rope to Ronan but Saqib managed to put pause to Tommy’s top rope wizardry which all lead to a Tower of Doom sending Lockhart bearing the brunt of the impact.

Following the rest from the tower falling, all three got a moment of showcase, Lockhart smashed Ali with a nasty headbutt out of nowhere before giving Saqib an Airplane Spin. Ronan faked an injury allow Lockhart to let his guard down for a low blow kick but his double underhook follow up was interrupted by a flying knee to the dome from Saqib Ali who got the pin and victory.

This was a bloody great triple threat. The crowd were hot, Ronan King was a great antagonist, with Tommy Lockhart really showing all out. As I always say, you don’t get a bad match when Saqib Ali is involved so all three crafted a great bit of art in the ring. It avoided any major triple threat tropes as a lot of the action involved all three in the ring, with the breakneck speed of the back end of the match being fantastic, it was like all three had to act fast as they knew that they didn’t have long if they immobilised both of their opponents. Great contest.

We got another Eastern Bloc, though there was no bear fighting, it was still ace.

Eastern Bloc (Jan Islav & Krobar) defeated Mike Musso & Adam Shame by pinfall.

After weeks of seeing Jan Islav solo and Krobar being a revelation by his side, I was hyped to see these two get properly going as a team. Adam Shame declared that they didn’t hate Eastern Bloc because they were foreign, it was because they were arseholes. Which is more inclusive to be fair.

Islav and Krobar tried to break the match down early with a brawl but Musso and Shame managed to turn the tables to send Eastern Bloc out of the ring. As the match settled it was Mike Musso who started for the veteran duo, as he and Shame schooled their opponents.

The groundswell of support for Eastern Bloc continued as the VALOR crowd weren’t being as receptive to the antics of Musso and Shame. Islav got a sneaky knee to the back of Musso to allow Krobar to get the fresher man tagged in.

Despite their underhanded tactics, the fans still cheered for Eastern Bloc as they cut off the ring for Mike Musso to take the majority of the damage. He finally tagged in Adam Shame who went for the John Cena comeback offense, interrupted by a flag wielding Jan Islav.

There was some awkward confusion with Musso distracting the referee to allow Islav to low blow Shame, and Krobar finished up with a flag smash against the skull. Islav made sure all bases were covered with the feet on the ropes.

The curious case of the fans loving Eastern Bloc continues. Mike Musso and Adam Shame tried to get the crowd involved and on their side but they were having none of it which made some of the moves and moments a bit weird for atmosphere. I’m on board, all hail our Eastern overlords!

Winner Picks The Stipulation For Their Next Match – New Age Kliq (Alex Kavero & Dru Marshall) w/Chris Renfrew defeated Glasgow Grindhouse (Lou King Sharp & Krieger) by pinfall.

Before the match even began it was revealed Irn Dru Marshall was the third man, assaulting Sharp and Krieger with a bat to get the brawl going.

The match spilled to the outside quickly with the bodies all over the venue. Sharp smacked Kavero with a Singapore Cane as Marshall threw Kriger over the merch table. The chaos continued as the crowd parted ways to allow for the anarchy to escalate. Glasgow Grindhouse brought the weapons as the VALOR audience were clearly split between the two teams.

Sharp dived off the bar onto Marshall as Krieger and Kavero fought by the entrance way in front of Chris Renfrew.

Eventually the action returned to the ring as the NAK dogs surrounded Sharp… but Sharp was still breathing and had a Singapore Cane who started swinging. The numbers caught up with him with a high-low from Kavero and Marshall before Irn Dru put the exclamation point on proceedings with a frog splash to give The New Age Kliq the win.

Renfrew tortured Sharp after the match with the Singapore Cane and a chair as Kavero held Krieger in the corner. As a chair was wrapped around the neck of Sharp, Krieger managed to escape the clutches of Kavero and fight back before being overpowered as Glasgow Grindhouse were left laid out.

This episode cooked. All four matches brought something different. The triple threat was outstanding. The Eastern Bloc tag match may have been odd tonally, it certainly showed how much the team is becoming beloved in VALOR despite them not doing anything to adhere themselves to the fans. The bookended bouts brought some grisly action.

VALOR really has a grey area in terms of fan reaction, the crowd really like having three dimensional characters with motivations. They give no time to happy clapping all smiles babyfaces or bad guys for the sake of it, they want an edge and that’s why there is a split reaction between Glasgow Grindhouse and NAK, why God’s Country get’s a positive reaction in surprising situations, and the mentioned Eastern Bloc. VALOR certainly has a unique product for wrestling entertainment and this episode really drove that home.

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